Summary: He thought she hated him. She thought she was just bragging rights. He kept missing his chances. She was running away scared. A story of love that follows Lily and James from 6th year until graduation. R/R!

Disclaimer: So no one sues me, I'm not JKR, I could never compare to JKR and you all know that. She is the almighty goddess of all things Harry Potter/magic. Her riches are not mine. Enjoy!

Chapter Seventeen Summary: Lily and James were busy with Head duties, each wrapped up in their own lovesick thoughts toward the other, when James got a letter saying his father had died. Lily helped him by getting Sirius before James blacked out. James went home, taking Sirius with him, and had to tackle the difficult task of cleaning out his father's study. Despite his grief, James thought of Lily. Little did he know she was thinking of him, too, missing him terribly while he was gone. Meanwhile Remus had to go through a transformation alone without James and Sirius. When James came back, Lily rushed to meet him, and they had an awkward yet casual exchange. The next day during classes, James came on the seldom-used loudspeakers at Hogwarts and sang a song in dedication to Lily, asking her out for the millionth time. This time, she said yes.

Thanks to JustCallMeDollface for an idea in this chapter!

"Hell froze over."

"Sirius…"

"Seriously. I can't believe it. Hell is frozen."

"Sirius."

"I totally said it would and it did. Put your hand to the floor…you can feel the cold of hell coming up through the ground."

"Sirius."

"I'm actually mad Lily said yes. I was ready for a nice hot afterlife. Now its frozen solid because Ice Queen Ev—"

"SIRIUS!"

The man with elegant black hair and a constant mischievous glint in his eyes just grinned at his messy haired bespectacled friend. Sirius wouldn't quit bringing up a now chilly Hades ever since James had arrived in the Great Hall after detention holding Lily's hand. James kept reprimanding him whenever he brought it up, but secretly he agreed. Hell had to have frozen...how else could he have the most perfect beautiful girl in the entire universe?

When they had walked into the Great Hall (after staring into each other's eyes in the most lovesick way, a way that made James' heart explode with love whenever he thought about it), they were greeted with scattered applause, incredulous looks, and whispers. James was scared Lily's fear of other's opinions would cause her to yank her hand out of his and run away. But she simply put on a smirk that rivaled James', tossed her hair, and pulled James to the Gryffindor table. Sirius muttered "whipped" under his breath as they sat down, but James didn't mind. If that was the price to pay for Lily, he would gladly take it. James had already happily handed Remus fifty galleons and Remus happily accepted. His prediction was correct – they had gotten together before graduation.

All of Lily's friends constantly swarmed around them like flies, cooing about how romantic it was for James to serenade Lily in front of the school. Aurelia and Rita hung carefully back, rolling their eyes at the ridiculousness of Lily's large admiring group. Secretly they were glad they had squealed with Lily in private that evening, so they felt no need to do it in the hallways and at mealtimes.

"So Lily," Sirius asked when their cozy group had finally gotten a minute of peace from excited girls, "what finally persuaded you to say yes? I know it wasn't James' vocal talents."

"It sounded like a cat going through water torture," Peter squeakily clarified.

Lily laughed and grinned devilishly at Sirius, settling herself deeper into James' embrace on the couch. "You know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

They all laughed, happy couples (minus a sullen Peter) sitting by the fire, enjoying life. The group, along with everyone else in Hogwarts, was trying to ignore the news of Voldemort slowly rising to power. Every death that had been reported in the Daily Prophet could not sufficiently trace the path back to Voldemort, but everyone knew he was behind the current terror reigning both wizard and Muggle worlds. They had no idea he was walking through the castle at this moment, preparing to ask Dumbledore for an opportunity to teach Defense Against Dark Arts at Hogwarts.

Author Notes: ((sheepish grin)) Remember I love you guys. Deeply. Truly.

I had to go back and re-read most of my story to remember my storyline, so I can't imagine how you guys must feel ((another sheepish grin)) but I saw sooooo many mistakes in my writing. They aren't only grammatical, but also plot consistency, and that severely bothers me. I don't have time to go back and edit it, so to those newly reading, I apologize.

The reason for this incredibly short chapter: I was at work and suddenly the scene with Sirius saying "hell froze over" popped into my head, and I had to sit down and write this chapter out. No, I have no idea when I'm updating next. If no one is reading, I might not. I do have some pretty sweet things planned, though. I have finals in two weeks, plus work, plus summer classes, plus trying to write a book (if anyone wants to read the first few [unedited] chapters and critique me, email me at lostinmusic89 at gmail dot com!). So yeah. I basically only updated today because I got a brainwave I couldn't resist.

Review! Even if you hate it, or hate me (understandable), review review review!